It's that time of year again where I start waxing rhapsodic about my love affair with rhubarb. And though it isn't as popular as some spring edibles, it has a fanatic following. Just ask @cityslipper (Daniel Gasteiger) who is rhubarb-obsessed...in fact, he was so obsessed that we chose his recip...

La Petite's friend Tyler died last Thursday, surrounded by an ocean of caring. She came home from the memorial service and sent me this email: "Ever since we got back from the funeral, Krumpet has been following me around where ever I go and sitting next to me. She's even sitting on my feet." ...

I missed their visit. I was on the road, taking La Petite a few things she'd forgotten at home, taking her grocery shopping and out to lunch, letting her talk about her friend Ty who is hanging on to his last days of life. My brother and sister-in-law and their new little baby came to visit Gra...

That would be SOOOOO much more effective. I'm even on district email; a real person could be in contact with me within minutes if he were truly missing.
Since he has Asperger's and thrives obsessively on routine, an absence means missing, not playing hooky. The robo-calls make no sense whatsoever.

It was a beautiful day, clear, crisp, and cold. All seemed well as I arrived home from work, set down my schoolbag, hung up my coat, brought in the mail, and checked the phone messages. 1) a call from the plumber's office wanting to reschedule our remodel date for the downstairs bathroom, offer...

My mother became a grandmother at 46 when La Petite was born. I was in my 20s. My brother became a parent at 42. He'll be 64 when this one graduates from college. I'm an aunt, and I'm 49. Meanwhile, my own not-so little ones are enjoying their new cousin, born on December 4. They adore her al...

...but you can't take this boy out of the kitchen. Since he's been taking Foods class in school, he's brought home recipes and talked cooking with mom and dad. He told us he was able and willing to help out with Thanksgiving preparations, and he was as good as his word. Here he is mixing up a ba...

Back story, the Cliff Notes version: school district Powers That Be decided on a re-eval for Amigo's autism for fear of our filing a formal complaint with the state. We met with the team to discuss our feelings and meet the diagnostician. This went well, despite the school social worker's inabi...

Back story, the Cliff Notes version: school district Powers That Be decided on a re-eval for Amigo's autism for fear of our filing a formal complaint with the state. We met with the team to discuss our feelings and meet the diagnostician. This went well, despite the school social worker's inabi...

I am sweating as I write this. The sweat and nerves are because I never write anything that might stir people up. I don't dig causing controversy-especially when I am certain I don't have all the facts and of that-I am certain this time. Yet, I am compelled to write because I am confused about...

Recently we were forced into the airline system by a family wedding in the States. I would rather do anything else than travel by air. Why the Bush Administration thought bailing out the airline industry after 9-11 was a better idea than simply letting it collapse and rebuild, I still cannot f...

I teach fourth grade. The changes are amazing. One memory that stands out in my daughter's tween years: he blankie, lovingly and perfectly folded, with her deodorant on top.
That one, and shopping for Beanie Babies and bras.
Good luck!

As the mother of a nine-year-old girl, I know that when she hits the teen years I'll need to buckle up for a bumpy ride! Adolescence is notorious for being a time when our children descend into a teen-age black hole from which they don't emerge until at least the end of high school. I figure...

In his mind, my "footprints in the sand" cell phone wallpaper was vanilla-ly boring; yet this is his idea of excitement??? Sons...they're a breed apart...;) {Here's a link because this is a REALLY FUNNY, and believe it or not, informative book...you have GOT to get a copy of your own!}

12 hours is a looooong drive with kids and a dog. Glad you made it home in one piece! I can identify with your pleasure, though, in physical stress rather than mental. I think that's another reason I enjoy gardening. It relieves the teaching stress.

Last weekend we drove down to Alabama in the family minivan, rented a small Budget truck, cleaned out my in-laws house of furniture and things we wanted, and then drove back to Kansas City. This all happened between Thursday evening to Monday afternoon. My husband drove the truck back, and I dro...

I must begin by confessing my guilt about going to a laundromat in the first place. I am fortunate enough to have a washer and dryer in my own home. I am not, however, fortunate enough to have one of those large capacity numbers. I am secretly tortured by the annoying commercial with Kelly Rip...

I thought I was doing a pretty good job of making sure my nine-year-old daughter would have a positive sense of self and accurate body image as she heads for those treacherous pre-teen and teen years. I NEVER complain about how I feel about myself when she's around, even though I often have t...

How come the numbers go from bottom to top on calculators: and adding machines: and computer keypads: but from top to bottom on telephones: and ATMs: I'm sure someone out there will know. My money's on Dr. Momentum.

85? Wow. The women in my family tree generally develop health problems in their 50s and 60s. My mother is 69, and we know she's on borrowed time given her gene pool. I won't be an "orphan," even though I lost my dad a few years ago. I have an extended family that includes in-laws and a stepfather, and as quirky as they are, we love them dearly.

Just a couple of weeks before my dad celebrated his eightieth birthday, a good friend's mother passed away not long after her own eighty-fifth. While on the one hand, it seems surprising that anyone would be surprised by the death of an elderly person - did I mention she was eighty-five? - Mi...

Growing up, I didn't have a lot of friends. Girls, I mean. I guess it was around the time I entered the 2nd grade (my youngest girl's age) when I realized that little girls weren't very nice. In fact, I quickly learned that some little girls could be very, very mean, too. "Look she's got b...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! O HAI! It time for Ask Stewie Starring Stewie! You better listen to Stewie, okay? Okay good, okay fine, HERE WE GO!!! Meaghan said... Dear Stewie- What do cats like most that makes their poo smell so bad? How can this be avoided? Would you be willing to eat bakin...

Around midnight, this is what I SHOULD be seeing around the old homestead. Peacefully slumbering cats, slightly out of focus. No running, no destroying, and especially no one is near my CLEAN UNDERPANTS. THIS is what was going on at my apartment LAST night. Me: Where is Stewie? Lulu: I don't c...

I've gotten a lot of comments and emails stating "What do you DO, woman, when you're not blogging? What is your profession? Your occupation? WHAT IS YOUR JOB, GIRL??? Well. You know what the rule is, right? THE FIRST RULE OF BLOGGING CLUB IS THAT YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT YOUR JOB. The truth is that ...

Y'all are so funny with the anagrams, seriously. One of these days I have to see what my FULL name (first, middle, last) spells out, since I already know it's longer than the alphabet. Yeah, THAT was fun on SAT forms. The thing about my last name is that it's not as difficult as it looks or soun...

Y'all? Poor Stewie. I make fun of him all the time, obviously, but he's my baby, my special little guy, he's Mama's precious angel baby, really, and he's just...SO dumb, and he gets himself into these predicaments that...Oh lord. Okay, we need some pictures here. But I promise, once the GORE com...

So when Captain Awesome came to visit last week, I picked him up at the local train station, and had to wait about five minutes for the train to come in. Me: Well, I have to park the car, because I can't park in front of the stupid station or I'll get a ticket. The World: No matter where you par...